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Minutes of The April Regularly Scheduled Meeting of
The Virginia Master Gardener Association, Inc.
April 13, 2002
Gloucester, VA
Attendance
(Chesapeake) Kerry Goldmeyer, Jane Montgomery; (Culpeper) Ed Tyner, Mrs. Tyner; (Fairfax) George Graine. Charles Hood; (Fauquier) Frank Reilly, Pat Reilly, Jim Scibek; (Gloucester) Florace Arnold, Betty Durrett, Judy D?, Joann Gallagher, Janet L?, Marie M?, Mary Newhouse, Noel Priseler, George Simpson, Mary Simpson; (Halifax) W. McCaleb, Shirley McCaleb; (Hanover) Pamela Armstrong, Cheri Haggerty; (Lynchburg, Amherst, Campbell) Catherine Powers, Karen Sacasky; (Newport News) Gary Bill; (N. Shenandoah Valley) Chuck Walters, Sally Walters; (Roanoke) Jerry Crum, Tina C. Greene, Shelby Snider; (Rockbridge) Caroline Norrington, Chuck Norrington; (Stafford, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, King George, Fredericksburg) Ann Gorrell; (Suffolk) Betty Freedman, Kathy Pruden; (Virginia Beach) Paul Campbell; (Virginia Tech) Sarah Lineberger; (??), Jane Price.
Call to Order
President Pat Reilly called the meeting to order at 1000.
Introductions
Noel Priseler of the Gloucester host group gave a power point presentation of the Gloucester Master Gardener’s programs.
Others present then introduced themselves.
Minutes
The minutes of the February meeting were approved as corrected.
Treasurer’s Report
Pat Reilly, reporting for Sybil Przypek, reported a total balance of $19,279.33.
President’s Report
· Pat Reilly’s report consisted of the following:
· 1). A motion was made and approved to move $100.00 each for Tom Geer and Ed Overton into the
Education Endowment Fund in their memory for all that they have done for Master Gardening.
2). A motion was made and approved to send a letter of unanimous support to the Foundation for the
“Flora of Virginia” Project from the VMGA along with a donation of $500.00.
3). Requests for tables for Brag night at Master Gardener College were accepted.
4) An officers meeting with Dr. Barrett is set for Master Gardener College.
5) Stars were awarded to the following: George Graine for contributions to the newsletter, Mike Holmes for helping with Education events, Chuck Walters for the Education Endowment Fund, George Gray and Mary Simpson – outgoing reps from Gloucester.
.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Education
Ann Gorrell reported that the March 16th event at Sandy’s Plants had 33 people signed up of which 29 actually attended. There were two speakers and one helper. The handouts were excellent. The theme was “Gardening with Nature”. Mary Casebolt did an excellent job with wonderful slides. Evaluations were positive.
Newsletter
Florace Arnold reported that the newsletter should be out by the end of the month.
Membership
Pat Reilly reported for Julie Cochran. Our membership stands at 373 with 52 life members. It was asked that address updates be sent to Julie by email. Renewal forms for this year offer a ‘Renew for Two” for $20.00.
Consists of Kerry Goldmeyer and Frank Reilly.
Since the Last Meeting we have provided tax and incorporation information to two different Associations.
Unit Representative information is available through the web site.
Members: Julie Cochran, Cheri Haggerty, Alice Nicholson, Shelby Snyder and Chair Frank Reilly.
1.) Since the February Regularly Scheduled Meeting there have been 7521 page requests to VMGA.net. Most people seem to visit between 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM, so apparently we are a lunchtime diversion. We are now regularly approached by businesses trying to help us increase our web traffic. We have visits from Australia, Hungary, Brazil, South Africa, Netherlands and over 23 other countries including Lithuania and Gabon.
2.) Since the February regularly Scheduled Meeting, the web page has been updated on 27 separate occasions.
3.) Member’s pages and Public pages are our most visited pages since they are gateways to our other content. The Calendar pages are regularly visited, but there is seldom anything new to see there. Please send in your events. We get the traffic, and maybe your event will too.
4.) Cheri Haggerty maintains the links page. If you have any interesting gardening links to add, send them to her. She’ll vet them, and edit the page accordingly. Currently we are reciprocally linked with MasterGardener.com. Visit the links page for information, and check out their site. It has dates, and contact information on MGs from around the nation, and even a few international links.
5.) Shelby Snyder has started a MG On-Line Photo album. Please send her scanned pictures via email, or even hard copies of pictures. She will scan them and get them back to you. We would love to see what MGs are doing around the state.
6.) Membership Applications are available on-line at the Membership page. This is the time to print some out and distribute them to your new classes. Julie promises to have a change of information form on the membership page as soon as the dust settles from her other big projects.
7.) The Communications Committee has also prepared a CD Presentation of MG College. You should have all seen them in your units by now. Let us know if you haven’t.
8.) The Hort Updates have resumed. This popular series prepared by Chuck Hoysa, agent in Fauquier County, provides timely advice on the problems that are appearing right now in your clients’ gardens. Chuck has the experience and the uncanny timing to identify a problem just before your hort help line gets the first call with that problem.
State Fair
Pat Reilly reported for Evelyn Parker that this year’s State Fair would be from 26 September thru 6 October 2002 and from 10:00 o’clock in the morning till 8:00 o’clock at night. Units need to sign up by mid August.
VMGA’s first scholarships for Master Gardener College were given to Paul Campbell, Betty Friedman, Fred Lindholm, Jane Montgomery, Carol Roelofs, Gene Sherman and Sally Walters.
Karen Sacasky reported that 361 ballots were mailed out on March 21st, and as of yesterday, 165 had been returned. The ballots would probably be counted within the next week and the candidates and executive board would be notified of the results.
Karen Sacasky reported that the Committee to Review Elections and Nomination Procedures had reviewed the procedures for nominating and electing VMGA Officers and recommends the following:
1). We should continue to elect all officers for two-year terms at the same time. Terms should not be
staggered or overlap one another.
2). We should retain term limits as set by our bylaws that state that no officer shall serve for more than
one consecutive term in the same office.
3) We should continue to have a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. We do not
Recommend having a President-Elect.
4). We recommend not combining Board positions.
5). The nomination and election schedule should be moved back to allow the newly elected President
more time to select committee chairs and have them in place by the annual meeting. The bylaws
state a minimum of 30 days prior to the annual meeting and we propose a minimum of 90 days. It
is recommended that a bylaw change be made to set the new minimum notice. That would provide
for the following minimum schedule:
a). The President appoints the Nominating Committee no later than the October Board meeting
so the Board may approve the appointments.
b). The Nominating Committee submit the names of the nominees to the Board no later than
January 10, mail the ballots no later than February 10, and announce the results to the
Executive Committee and advise the newly elected officers of the results no later than
March 20,
Sarah Lineberger reported the following:
1.) “Lost” name tags can be reordered.
2.) Master Gardener College registration deadline is May 31st. Housing deadline is the same.
3.) Master Gardener College Brag Night – along with posters, and other display material, groups
Can bring goodies.
1.) The Southeast Master Gardener Conference is in Raleigh is May 20th to the 22nd and hosted by NC State.
The Northeast Master Gardener Conference is almost full.
The International Conference next June needs speakers.
Unit Reports
Units present presented brief reports on what their individual units are doing.
Unfinished Business
There was no unfinished business.
New business
Karen Sacasky asked if we could come up with a list of Master Gardeners similar to Listserv that can be used to get out information to members such as Tom Geer’s death? Pat Reilly said it was doable.
Announcements
The next board meeting is Thursday, 20 June 2002, 1130-1230 in Blacksburg, VA.
The next annual meeting is Saturday, 22 June 2002, 1900-2000 in Blacksburg, VA.
The official meeting was adjourned at 1340.
Respectfully submitted,
A
Jim Scibek
Secretary
VMGA, Inc.